You Give Your Love So Sweetly
by InsanityatBest
Summary: "I want to be her Perseus." Carrie doesn't need a Prince Charming. She needs a hero. Carrie saved Andromeda once but can Andromeda save her too? Can Andromeda be Carrie's Perseus? Carrie/OFC Carrie/OC Eventual femslash femmeslash lesbian (follows 2013 film)
1. Marie had never believed in fairytales

Marie had never been one for fairy tales.

She used to argue with her best friend and sister about it all the time.

_"I want a hero not a prince."_

_"Prince Charming is a hero."_

_"No. He's a pretty boy in a suit. I want a hero. Someone who will do the impossible for me. I want a Hercules, a Perseus, someone who will go to hell and back for me."_

_"Prince Charming can do that."_

_"Would he go against a god for me?"_

Anne would always be silent after that.

So when Marie fell, she fell hard for the man dressed in blue.

_"Cory is a hero and I knew if I waited patiently enough I'd find a real one. Anne told me to look for Prince Charming. He doesn't exist. I found a Perseus and I don't think I could love anyone more than him."_

Marie said in her vows and kissed her soldier in marriage.

So when Marie and Cory finally had a child, no one was surprised at her name.

_Marie held the little girl tight in her hospital bed._

_Her crystal blue eyes looked down at the little miracle in her arms with string hair from sweat falling into her face._

_Cory had never seen as being as beautiful as her face flushed from pushing and skin sweaty from giving him his first born._

_"Andromeda," she declared the little bundle of pink skin and round blue eyes._

_Cory's finger stretched to her tiny pink hand and her grasp was tight as she hugged it close._

_"More like Perseus," he joked as his finger reddened from the pressure._

As Andromeda got older, Marie and Cory told her the story of her name.

_"A long time ago in Ancient Greece, there were gods. These gods came from Titans who were large and very hard to beat. The titans were bad though and one tried to eat all his children after hearing they'd be stronger than him."_

_"You wouldn't eat me, would you Mama?" A four year Andromeda asked with her own crystal blue eyes fixated on her mother's face._

_"No baby," Marie reassured and squeezed the small hand in hers. "But the Titans were bad. One child escaped named Zeus and his brothers Hades and Poseidon created a creature named a Kraken to get rid of the Titans. The Kraken put all the bad Titans away."_

_"What happened next, Mama?"_

_"Zeus became king of the gods. Poseidon the God of the sea and Hades the God of the underworld. Zeus created people who rebelled after a time and tried to start a war with the gods."_

_"What'd he do?"_

_"The gods wanted to kill the people for being so bad but Zeus loved them like I love you. He couldn't hurt his children but he went to the people king and started it all. The king that started the war had a beautiful wife who loved him dearly and waited for him at home. Zeus took the form of the king and stole his wife's love."_

_"But Mama you're not supposed to steal."_

_"That's the bad thing Zeus did. From that love, came a baby that didn't belong to the king. He was so angered and betrayed he ordered his queen and the baby to be thrown into the sea."_

_"But they were okay, right?"_

_Marie shook her head sadly and saw her daughter's face fall._

_"The queen did what all mother's do. She saved her son with her last breath. A fisherman found the son and named him Perseus. He grew up loved and happy but wanted to know where he came from."_

_Andromeda took a shaky breath and rubbed her eyes with her fists._

_"You're okay, baby," Marie reassured before continuing. "After Perseus had grown, another king started a war with the gods. This time Zeus put his brother Hades in charge who didn't love people."_

_"What did Hades do?"_

_"He took away the king 's wife and told the king to sacrifice his beautiful daughter Andromeda to save their city."_

_"No, Mama! Why?"_

_"The queen Cassiopeia loved her daughter so much she declared her more beautiful than the goddess of beauty. All modesty was lost and so she paid the large of a large head."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"The queen thought she was better than everyone else and it got her killed."_

_"Anyhow, Perseus had come to the city and they begged for his help so that they could save the princess. Perseus fought Medusa, a cursed woman with snake hair and eyes that turned people to stone. He fought the king who tried to kill him as a baby. Just in time, he fought the great Kraken who was more powerful than the gods and won. He saved Andromeda and the princess loved him so much for the sacrifice they married and were happy together for the rest of their lives."_

_"Mama?"_

_"Yes, baby?"_

_"I want to be a Perseus."_

_Marie kissed her daughter's forehead and slowly withdrew._

_"Be Perseus but be my Andromeda too."_

When Cory died, Marie didn't know what to do.

She stared blank eyed at the coffin that used to hold the hulk of her man, her hero and sniffles.

The small seven year old slid into her hers and Marie looked at Andromeda.

_"Mama, we have to be a Perseus."_

Marie half laughed and half cried as she hugged the greatest gift Cory had ever given her.

Her heart stopped when at twelve, she got that call from the school.

_"Mrs. Shield, there was an accident with Andromeda today. We need your permission to take her to the nearest hospital."_

_"Is Andromeda okay? What happened?"_

_"She fell into the pool and was pulled out by another student. Her head hit the bottom of the pool and she was knocked unconscious. She's awake now but we think it's best she be checked out."_

_Marie had rushed to the hospital heart in her throat, eyes blurred with tears and chest so tight she couldn't breathe._

_"Andromeda? Baby, talk to me."_

_Marie had half sobbed and finally breathed when her dark eyelashes fluttered open soothing her with their shared blue eyes._

_"Mama, I saw an angel with red hair today."_

_Andromeda's voice was soaked with awe as she described he Angel to her mother._

_"She was my Perseus."_

_That same awed tone stayed and Marie stayed quiet focused on her little girl._

_"I want to be her Perseus too."_


	2. Mama, I saw an angel with red hair today

_"Mama, I saw an angel with red hair today."_

Screams and shouts echoed loudly in the high school pool. Middle schoolers jumped in the water and gym teachers valiantly tried to contain the eighth graders. One girl stood in the water content to just float and let the cold water brush against her skin in tingling waves.

"Ant!"

The call startled her and she jumped up with her heart in her throat.

"Ant!"

Andromeda turned around and sputtered as she was splashed.

She raised her tanned arms in front if her face at the surprise attack.

"Stop," she squealed laughing. "Tommy, you're a boy. It's not fair," she complained still laughing.

"How about now?" A feminine voice added and Tommy shouted at the sudden onslaught of chlorine water.

Their shouts and screams echoed in the school pool and the gym teacher Mrs. Beauton waddled over supporting her large bump.

"Tommy! Sue! Andromeda!" Mrs. Beauton called out. "What have I said about yelling?"

Andromeda's face fell at the scolding.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Beauton. I tried not to but when I'm happy I yell."

Andromeda explained with the innocence and honesty of a child.

Mrs. Beauton had never forgotten Andromeda's face if not her name.

_"I remember it was such an odd name and she was so... good. It was almost unnatural. I couldn't yell at her without feeling bad. She just had so much innocence even at twelve. I was real sad when I heard what happened."_

"Try again," Mrs. Beauton said in a kinder tone. She thought for a moment and appealed to Andromeda's helping side. "This baby is real uncomfortable and is giving me a headache."

"I'm sorry," Andromeda repeated distressed thinking she was hurting someone.

"It's alright."

"Looking good, Mrs. Beauton," Tommy called out.

The gym teacher rolled her eyes in good humor.

"I'm eight and a half months. I'm a whale."

She turned to leave when Andromeda spoke up.

"It's a girl."

Mrs. Beauton turned around.

"What makes you tell?"

She asked curious having decided the baby's gender would be a surprise.

"Your hair," Andromeda gestured to her own head. "It shines beautifully. Mom says that happens when you have girls."

Mrs. Beauton blushed a little and reprimanded herself for it.

_She's just a child..._

"Thank you, Andromeda," and swaddled back to her seat in the middle of the pool.

"Teacher's pet," Tommy pushed his shoulders against hers and Andromeda pushed back not taking it to heart.

She turned her head to talk to Tommy and stopped when she saw the girl behind him.

The girl was standing in the shallower part of the pool just watching everyone with her arms crossed tight over her still flat chest.

Maybe it was her eyes that got Andromeda's attention.

They were such a pretty shade of blue: dark like the beach water she played in every summer.

They were wide and pretty but lonely in a way that made Andromeda's heart hurt.

"I'll catch up with you later," Andromeda rushed to say and waded her way to the sad girl in the corner.

The girl was pretty but in an understated way.

Her long hair was a pretty mix of blonde and red waving with no pattern down to her chest.

Her eyes became impossibly wider as she saw the brunette with so many friends approaching.

Her head dipped as Andromeda came closer.

Andromeda came to her almost cautiously like you do with a scared animal: slowly and gently.

She gave a little smile as she came closer.

"Hey. I'm Andromeda."

The pre-teen hugged herself tighter and bit her lip after she answered.

"Carrie."

Andromeda came even closer until they were face to face.

"What are you doing over here?"

Carrie's tiny shoulders shrugged and she seemed to curl into herself even tighter.

"Well, why don't you play with me for a while?"

Carrie's eyes became even bigger as Andromeda stuck out her hand for her.

"C'mon. Play with me."

Hesitantly Carrie reached and touched her hand.

Slowly Andromeda led the smaller girl away from the corner and closer to the center of the pool.

Andromeda let go once they were closer to the net to grab a nearby ball and Carrie reluctantly let go of her hand.

"Catch!" Andromeda shouted and threw the plastic ball to Carrie.

The overhead lights flickered for a moment and some students looked at the ceiling in confusion.

Carrie shut her eyes tight dreading the hit and was pleasantly surprised when she opened her eyes and the ball was in her hands.

"Throw it back," Andromeda urged her on smiling and Carrie smiled back.

It's a game. Carrie thought to herself. She's still playing with me.

Carrie for the first time smiled back and it was breathtaking.

Her teeth looked so white when they touched her dark pink lips and the way the corners of Carrie's lips lifted like that, like the sun after a long day of rain, made Andromeda want to make Carrie smile all the time.

It looked so perfect when Carrie smiled like she was born to smile.

Andromeda was so distracted, Carrie threw the ball and she didn't catch it.

It hit the water with a splash beside her and made Andromeda jump before she shook her head and started laughing.

The movement kind of stung as the long wet hairs hit her face.

"Good shot," Andromeda said laughing and tried to wipe some of the water from the splash off.

She grabbed the ball and threw it cheering when Carrie caught it this time and immediately threw it back.

"Nice!" Andromeda shouted before throwing it again.

The game continued for a while before Andromeda grew bored and let the ball fall back into the pool.

This time when Andromeda came close, Carrie didn't flinch but still watched her as she walked.

Carrie had never met anyone so nice before or so pretty.

It seemed too good to be true this one girl wanted to talk to her, to be with her.

It made Carrie want to smile all over again.

"You wanna talk on the steps?"

"Want to," Carrie corrected and blushed when Andromeda looked at her confused. "I want to talk."

Andromeda smiled again and took Carrie's hand leading her to the steps on the shallower part.

Carrie had never felt anyone other than Mama grab her hand.

It was always tight, suffocating and hurt leaving a dull ache that reminds.

_I'm mama's. Mama's little girl. Be a good girl or get in the closet. Pray for forgiveness. Forgive her she knows not what she does._

Andromeda's grip seemed grounding soft like...

_Follow me. Let's play. I like you. We'll talk and we'll laugh and you'll like me and I'll have a friend, a friend who's pretty and kind and looks like an angel._

"Where'd you go there?" Andromeda asked and her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.

Carrie jumped as she came out of her thoughts and she looked to the pool water as she answered.

"Nowhere."

Andromeda squeezed her hand before continuing to talk.

"How come I haven't seen you before?"

Carrie looked onto Andromeda's face before quickly glancing back down.

"Home school. The board wouldn't let Mama homeschool me anymore."

"My mom works for the school board. She's assistant principal here. Mrs. Shield. She's in the office."

_Mama._

_Sin. Sin. Showing your skin. Playing with boys. Burning. Closet. Pray for forgiveness, Carrie. Go to the closet. Playing with girls who play with boys. Whores. Jezebels' in plain sight._

Carrie didn't look up at all as she answered.

"Mama works at the laundromat. She's worked there for a long time."

"I bet she's really good."

"Yeah," Carrie replied biting her lip.

Andromeda didn't know what to do.

Carrie wasn't like the other girls. She didn't bounce back so easily. Carrie now seemed like the pinball machine at the mall: moving in every which way that left you following in its every motion. It left your head spinning but you're so dazed, so transfixed you can't help trying to guess anyway, trying to move the ball and help guide it in any way you can.

Seeing this made her heart hurt all over again.

She hated it when people were sad and Carrie looked like the saddest person she'd ever seen.

Andromeda took Carrie's hand and placed it on her face with Carrie's palm on her cheek.

Carrie's were cool and wet from the wet ball with little drops dripping down Andromeda's face like tears but she paid them no mind.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're a Perseus," Andromeda whispered reverently it over and over like a prayer.

Unknown to them, another girl was watching them.

Chris Hargenson scowled glaring at the two of them across the room.

_Mine. Andromeda is mine. Andromeda and Sue and Tina and they are mine. How can she want to Carrie when there's me? I'm pretty aren't I? I'm pretty and she's like a boy and I'm supposed to like boys and she's supposed to be mine._

_Andromeda is mine._

With that lost thought, Chris stormed out of the pool her petite body raging as she saw the golden girl of their class and the town pariah talking.

Each step that Chris made would create a wall between her and Andromeda that would never fall.

Andromeda was leading Carrie out of the pool with her tanned arm around her pale skinny shoulders.

"We can be friends," Andromeda comforted her. "Just don't tell that's all."

The taller brunette rushed over to the two girls nearly frothing at the mouth in anger.

"How can you talk to her?" Chris half shouted half asked stressing the last word. As if Carrie didn't deserve to a name, recognition but a her, a creature to look at but never touch.

"Her name is Carrie," Andromeda said sounding eerily calm. "I talk to her very easily."

Her passiveness confused Chris enough to lower her voice.

"But you're my friend," the words were hard and Chris's grey eyes focused on Carrie with a harsh glare. "Not hers."

"No, I'm not. The hero can't be friends with the monster,"

Chris balked taking a step back in shock.

"Did you just call me a monster?"

Andromeda used her arm to push Carrie slightly behind her ignoring Chris's prior statement.

"I can't be friends with a Kraken. It only tried to kill in the end."

"What'd you call me?"

Chris stepped closer to Andromeda and her perfectly waxed eyebrows furrowed further in anger.

"Kraken. Don't be the bad guy. I can't be friends with bad guys."

It was stated like a simple fact.

The sky is blue.

I can't be your friend.

"But you can be friends with that?! She's poor! She's ugly! And she'll never be one of us! You'd choose her love me? An ugly ducking?!"

The worst thing about it all was the look on Carrie's face.

Her eyes were planted firmly on the ground arms wrapped tight across her chest like it would protect her from every word spewing from the jealous girl's mouth.

Andromeda scowled and her face suddenly seemed like angelic with her mouth no longer smiling.

"Don't say that and don't ever talk to me after this."

Her normally soft voice was harsh with effectiveness for this girl behind her with the big sad eyes.

"This is all your fault!" She shrieked at the frightened strawberry blond.

Without thinking, Chris reached over to push the blonde but hadn't seen Andromeda take that step to further block Carrie.

_Splash_!

Andromeda fell into the six foot part of the pool slamming hard into the concrete at the bottom.

_Thump_.

Her head bounced on the ground and she was knocked out on impact.

The next time Andromeda remembered opening her eyes she saw her mother.

Marie's eyes were red and bloodshot with restraints still present on her pale face.

_"She has a grade three concussion. The fall into the pool must've resulted in her head hitting the bottom of the pool. It sounds serious but can be harmless. Notify the nurse when she wakes an we'll discuss this further."_

_"Mama, I saw an angel with red hair today."_

Andromeda didn't seem to notice the distress on her mother's face as she spoke.

Her light blue eyes were focused on her mother's face but Andromeda seemed to be thinking out loud.

_"She was my Perseus."_

Andromeda faintly remembered falling and seeing a red face with tears.

A beautiful girl's face with sad blue eyes and cool tendrils of hair brushing against Andromeda's skin.

_Such sad eyes for such a beautiful girl..._

_"I want to be her Perseus too."_


	3. I need to save her but I don't know how

Andromeda didn't know what she expected when her mother finally let her go back to school.

Cards? Maybe.

People telling her get better soon? Yeah.

She didn't expect everyone to watch her every move like Andromeda was going to break.

She wasn't fragile: nothing like glass.

She was Andromeda Shield: she could play with the boys, hang out with girls and get High Honor Roll.

If Andromeda could get the Chamberlain school district to let her play on the boys lacrosse team, she could do anything.

Including watching over a little angel with long reddish blonde hair.

Through what seemed like a neverending mass of fair wishers, Andromeda used her lanky frame to find her newfound friend.

Carrie White's name spread like wildfire in the middle school.

"The new girl? I heard she pushed Ant Shield in the pool because Ant wasn't Christian."

"I heard Carrie only pulled out Andromeda to save her soul."

"I heard Chris saw Carrie push her in."

Every word was a warped sense of what really happened at the pool.

Rumor after rumor spread about the strawberry blonde but no one cared enough to know where she was.

"Why? She doesn't matter," Lucas Patrickson shrugged his shoulders disinterested.

"She saved me," Andromeda sounds incredulous and walks a couple steps closer to the teen.

He automatically takes a step back and feels his heart start to race.

Andromeda Shield was the town sweetheart.

She did the right thing like help old ladies to their cars and tutored the younger kids.

This Andromeda was a stranger.

She wasn't friendly, wasn't nice, wasn't her.

Her smile was gone, her face was stoic and her eyes: they were so cold.

Andromeda was gone.

That scared him more than anything else.

"Did you try to save me? Did you think about me? Did you think about her?"

Andromeda's voice is deeper in righteous anger and she walks even closer into the dark haired boy's face.

He flinches at the closeness and barely manages not to hit the wall.

Andromeda follows his movement without hesitation.

He's almost frozen with tension: not of attraction but fear.

Lucas feels smaller now, threatened, but can't seem to move.

He is stuck.

The pair stare eye to eye with Andromeda's crystal blue eyes entirely too focused on his own.

Lucas tries to step forward to try to make Andromeda move but she follows his movements placing her arm as a barrier when he tries to leave again.

_I'm stuck. _

He looks up with his eyes widened in fear and now she's so close he can smell the mint on her breath.

The smell is sharp almost strong and he recoils pressing close to the wall behind him.

"Carrie White matters," her voice is dark and sounds older and deep and oh my god he's terrified.

Her mouth is tightly closed with no white teeth showing. Her dimples are nowhere to be found and her bright eyes seem almost grey.

He doesn't know this Andromeda and that terrifies him.

He nods when she speaks and only remembers after she leaves, what she said.

"It's best if you remember that."

Andromeda sticks her head out the door.

"Carrie?" Andromeda called out her name in the girl's bathroom.

Her voice is lighter now and soft in curiosity.

She tilts her head as if it'd better her hearing.

"Carrie, are you in here?"

Her gentle voice echoes a little in the school bathroom.

Feeling awkward, she rocks her heels back and forth still trying to listen.

Andromeda hears someone's soft sob but can't tell if someone is really crying.

"Hello?" she calls out and more of her body becomes visible from behind the door as Andromeda inches in.

A harder sob echoes through the bathroom and Andromeda walks onto the linoleum floor.

Her eyebrows lower in worry as she calls outs again.

"Carrie, is that you?"

Andromeda's voice heightened in concern as a harsher sob came from a stall.

Walking along, Andromeda bents a little so she can see a little underneath the stalls.

She continues checking until she sees a pair of shoes in the last stall.

Through the small gap, she sees they lead up to pale calves that tremble with every cry.

The skin is so pale that Andromeda knows almost automatically who it is.

_The red haired angel is here and she's crying._

"Open the door."

Her voice is still soft: pleading.

Andromeda reached out one of her arms before rethinking it and laying them alongside her sides.

She walks as she can to the door and stares as if Andromeda could see through it.

"Carrie, you need to open this door."

Worry deepened her voice and she raised her fist knocking on the stall door.

Knock.

Knock.

"Carrie?"

There was a shaky breath from the other side and an answering sob.

Andromeda didn't know what to do.

What if she's like the girl on YouTube who killed herself? What if she's cutting or taking pills or not eating or someone hit and people are making fun of her? What am I supposed to do? A hero knows what they're supposed to do and I need to be her hero. I need to be her hero but I don't know what to do.

I need to save her but I don't know how...

"Carrie, I need you to come out."

Andromeda begged through the door and her own eyes took a suspicious sheen as the door remained locked.

She didn't realize how quick a bond had formed.

The teen had never had such a connection to someone else before.

They barely knew each other but Andromeda couldn't forget Carrie White.

Carrie just looked so sad all the time. She hugged herself so tight and always looked down and Andromeda couldn't stand seeing people being hurt. She liked it when people smiled and Carrie had the most beautiful smile.

When Carrie smiled, Andromeda felt a funny feeling in her stomach that almost felt like sickness except Andromeda liked it.

Andromeda liked it almost as much as the sad girl's smile.

It was beautiful from that small glance but seemed so rare.

She deserved to smile all the time but Andromeda didn't know what to do.

_I need to save her but I don't know how..._

"I need you to come out. I don't know why but I do," Andromeda put her hand against the stall door palm touching the cool material as if touching skin.

"I need you," Andromeda repeated and leaned closer towards the door.

She jumped slightly when Carrie spoke.

Carrie's voice is different after crying almost harder and it makes Andromeda want to cry.

She sounds so defeated and so confused like no one's ever cared for her...needed her.

"Why would you need me?"

Andromeda waits for a moment to put her thoughts into words.

"Cause you're the only one that tried to help."

Carrie unlocks the door but doesn't move.

Andromeda doesn't push it open but tries again.

"Because I care."

The door opens slowly and she steps out.

Carrie's face was still mesmerizing even when crying.

Her face was slightly swollen from crying and her green eyes were reddened and looked wider from her tears. Her small nose was as pink as roses. Small tear tracks stained her pale skin. Carrie sniffled and Andromeda grinned slightly at the cuteness of the sound.

That grin quickly disappears at what Carrie says next.

"It's my fault."

Andromeda's face and voice loses some of its softness: angry for Carrie.

"Who said?"

"Chris."

It's quiet for a moment as Andromeda tries to process this.

There's no logic for it.

Chris, the girl who pushed her, blames Carrie, the girl she wanted to push, for pushing her, the girl who tried to stop Carrie from being pushed at all.

Andromeda is silent as she tries to gather her words.

Carrie mistakes it for something else.

"Do you blame me for what happened?"

This time Andromeda is quick to answer.

"Not even a little bit," Andromeda reassures and carefully puts her arm over Carrie's shoulders bringing her a little close at the sob of relief.

Carrie turns until its hug with her thin arms wrapped tight over Andromeda's waist.

Andromeda holds her looser not wanting her to feel trapped in her taller frame.

"Beautiful girls shouldn't cry."

Andromeda's tanned hand slowly runs through the haphazard curls nails making Carrie's scalp tingle at the sensation.

It's so calming that Carrie finds her tears quickly drying.

The embrace though is so comforting that Carrie can't bring herself to leave it yet.

"You cry so beautifully though that I'll let you just this once."

Carrie's head withdraws from Andromeda shoulder almost violently and she shakes her head much the same way.

"It's a sin. Vanity is a sin. No one can be beautiful."

She states them hard, fast and panicked like these are actual facts that could hurt Andromeda.

"Then let me burn," Andromeda's voice is certain but airy as if hell isn't a punishment but a gift.

She withdraws enough so they look into each other's eyes: pale green meeting crystal blue.

"Let me walk on the hot coals and see the flames flicker."

Andromeda feel Carrie's breath almost stop at the declaration.

"Seems more of a sin to watch someone hurt and not do anything."

Carrie is stuck silent: stuck in an impasse of which is right and wrong.

She burrows back into Andromeda's shoulder where for a moment everything made sense because someone needed her.

Someone cared for her.

Andromeda was having an epiphany of her own that moment.

Carrie needed saving and maybe she herself did too.


	4. When She's Ready

The girls locker rooms echoed with the laughter and shrieks of teenage girls.

"Have you starting campaigning? I already-"

"I order my dress two weeks old ago. It's blue and-"

"My dress isn't here yet. I don't know what-"

Voices entwined and dispersed to create a symphony of voices.

One however was silent.

Andromeda stood with her back to the girls unspoken yet still existing.

Her grey blue almost silver eyes were trained on the mirror in her locker.

Andromeda ignored the girl talk as she slowly finger combed her hair into a high ponytail.

She made sure to try to gather each strand arms bent and raised to get as many unruly hairs as possible.

Just as all of her hair was in her grasp, one of the girls called for her attention.

"Ant!" Sue sang from a couple lockers away. "Ant!"

Unbeknownst by them, the others focused on the conversation in the making.

Andromeda turned around in response and it became an ocean of hormones in the locker room.

Eighteen years of small town life had convinced everyone that she was a boy.

To the townspeople, it made perfect sense.

Andromeda was just too tomboy to them to be a girl.

She didn't wear dresses or skirts much.

She played for the boys' sports team.

She always pulled her hair back.

Excuse after excuse filled their minds but it was the teenage girls who explained it best.

Ant was the perfect boyfriend.

It was the tragic logic of a small town.

_Sue thought for a moment on the stand before answering._

_She focused on her hands for a moment not seeing the manicure but memories flash by her eyes._

_The teenager sighed and began explaining._

_"Everybody had a crush on Ant on one point. It was just," Sue shrugged her shoulders looking torn. "She had a way of looking through you. It was like everything you said was being heard and like you saw you...completely. Then when she smiled," Sue's expression became wistful and it was hard to believe she was a high school senior and not a senior citizen. "It made you feel so special like you really mattered. She'd do little things to make people smile. Give someone a cupcake at school for their birthday, go sit with the lonely ones." Sue sighed again. "She even carried books to classes. She was just so sweet, so kind and so unreal. You wanted to protect her but be protected all at girl liked her and that look she could give you made it so easy to ignore that she was a girl."_

"Any plans for prom?

Sue's voice was light as she nonchalantly took off her shirt in plain sight.

A certain strawberry stopped undressing in the changing room anxious as to the answer.

Andromeda's eyes stayed firmly on Sue's face as she answered.

"Not all of us have a Tommy," Andromeda teased smiling and turned away to finish her ponytail. "Besides, I don't think I'm going."

A chorus of indignant teenage girls

"WHAT?!"

It was an uproar filled with shrieks and screams of hormonal high schoolers.

Andromeda flinched a little at the vehicle but refocused her eyes on the peeling paint of her locker so she could finish.

"You know I don't have a date," her voice was relatively calm still almost teasing if it wasn't for Andromeda's white knuckled death grip on her lacrosse jersey. She turned her head to the rest of the girls not wanting to go in detail.

Andromeda sighed and pulled the shirt over her chest before continuing.

"I didn't get asked and I was too scared to ask so," she shrugged but it was too stiff and jerky to be casual.

"We would've gone with you," the twins reply was breathy and Carrie bit her lip.

_Please, don't._

Carrie held her breath for Andromeda's reply half in hope and half in fear.

"It's fine girls," Andromeda ignored the disappointed sighs to pull up her bottoms and she started tying her sneakers.

Carrie let out a sigh of relief at the answer from her little hide away.

"I'm not going."

This time Andromeda's words were hard with conviction.

The girls sighed in disappointment and Carrie hurried out the locker room before anyone could say something else.

She was the first out and watched the door stiffly waiting.

It was like the first time Andromeda saw Carrie all over again.

There she stood no longer little but still looking deciding small.

Carrie was delicate, small and so heartbreaking to see when Andromeda left the locker room.

The lights from the bright pool water made Carrie's already ivory skin look even paler further emphasized by her concealing black one piece.

Tommy immediately headed for Sue hugging her tight and spinning her making her long golden blonde hair spin wild and free.

Andromeda was far more discrete in comparison.

She walked to Carrie ignoring the girls walking past and gossiping behind her.

Steel blue eyes were warmer than fire as Andromeda looked at Carrie grinning with a closed mouth.

"Hey, Carrie."

Andromeda spoke her name in such awe and respect that Carrie's cheeks resembled rose petals.

Tommy glanced there for a moment at Carrie wishing for a moment Sue and him could be like that.

He wished for a second that Sue and him could have that adoration spread in just one look, one moment.

Tommy turned back to Sue feeling slightly guilty for even the thought.

He ignored their interaction feeling like even the greeting was too intimate for other's eyes.

"Hi."

Andromeda smiled wider completely enchanted by the cute creature in front of her.

Andromeda's eyes were so startling compared to her skin: light blue against a tanned outline were completely honed on Carrie seeing nobody else.

It was a look of adoration, of respect,of something Carrie had only ever read should be in the rapture.

A glowing feeling of acceptance and something that seemed too important to be for two high school girls.

An immediate smile spread across Carrie's face and she glanced at the floor for a moment before looking back at Andromeda's olive-toned face.

"I-"

A shrill whistle blown by interrupted Carrie and she looked back on the ground courage lost.

Tommy reluctantly pulled away from Sue watching her leave before waiting for Andromeda.

"See you after?"

Andromeda rubbed her lips too nervously and unconsciously Carrie focused on the movement repeating it herself.

Andromeda looked at Carrie for a moment torn before quickly planting a kiss goodbye on her forehead.

It wasn't maternal, wasn't lust but lost control in the face of attraction.

Andromeda flushed before hurrying to Tommy.

He had walked to the side of the pool to give them privacy but saw everything from afar.

"We're gonna be late for practice," Andromeda avoided his eyes as she started to leave the pool.

Tommy and Andromeda were nearly the same height at her five six and his five nine so he easily matched her quickened steps.

"When are you gonna tell her?"

Andromeda ignored the question and walked even faster to the exit.

He turned walking backwards for a moment before stopping and grabbing her shoulders.

She stopped but didn't look up at him clenching her fists and thinning her lips.

"Ant," he hesitated before throwing a lean but muscular over her shoulders. "I don't judge. It doesn't matter. It's Tommy, you know, the boy who popped the ball in kindergarten. You stood up for me and I'm with you. It doesn't matter," he says the last sentence stronger before briefly squeezing her,

"I just wanna know," his voice is gentle and understanding. "It's obvious and so perfect like one of Sue's Nicholas Spark novels but oh my god it's heartbreaking to watch."

Tommy looked at her face again and she looked up at him this time.

He stayed focused as he asked.

"Ant, when are you gonna tell her?"

His voice was still gentle, still calm and by far Tommy Ross was one of the best friends Andromeda ever had which is why she answered.

Andromeda looked over her shoulder to see Carrie still smiling to herself arms wrapped tight across her chest.

Her breath hitched and Andromeda's response was breathy but strong: weak yet filled with power.

"When she's ready."

**Author's Note: I am so late! I am so sorry but like I said if I'm not inspired, I won't write. Every time I tried to update something came up so please forgive me! I promise I'll try harder this summer and maybe I can write more since my school year just finished. Please forgive me!**


	5. I need you

Carrie stood frozen like a deer in headlights as Andromeda walked by clad in only a small white towel.

Her dark hair was still wet from the school showers clinging to her skin in a wet embrace. Soaked strands held close to one another creating an almost dreadlocked appearance. Droplets dripped from her hair onto sun kissed skin and making it shine even in the fluorescent light. Some droplets trickled down a trail beneath the small towel and Carrie couldn't help noticing, couldn't help watching Andromeda come back to the shower.

Carrie watched the other girl intently not noticing her head sticking out further and further from her locker.

Andromeda slowed her pace feeling someone's stare.

She turned her head and saw Carrie.

Almost all her face was visible from her locker. Her pale skin stuck out drastically from the dull metal with Carrie's darkened eyes that looked more like olives than jades on her face. Carrie's eyes slowly followed the water trail ignorant of Andromeda's notice until she heard a quick exhale from Andromeda.

Andromeda grinned catching Carrie in the act and felt a warm thinking that Carrie liked the way she looked.

Carrie blushed at getting caught and quickly pushed her head into her locker.

Andromeda chuckled to herself.

_She's so cute..._

Andromeda couldn't help help noticing what the locker door couldn't cover.

_For someone so small, her legs were so long..._

Andromeda shook her head to herself sighing but still smiling as she headed to her locker.

She was quick to put her underwear and slowly wiggled back into her jeans cursing how all girl's jeans seemed to be a tight fit.

Andromeda was in the middle of putting her buttoning her top when she heard the shrieking start.

It was a shrill ear piercing scream that sent shivers down her spine and made her pause mid-sleeve.

"HELP!"

Whomever was shrieking was terrified and Andromeda followed through the lockers to the cries.

"HELP!"

The shrill screams echoed throughout the entire locker room and Andromeda walked even faster by the half dressed girls.

"HELP ME!"

The voice seemed familiar but the eerie decibel made it hard to put the name in the voice.

"I'm dying…"

A sob from the left echoed through the locker room.

This was too familiar.

"Carrie?"

She called out and stopped for a minute looking for a glimpse of red.

"HELP!"

Andromeda broke into a run heading towards the shower wet hair still dripping onto her shirts.

"I'M DYING!"

"Is that blood?"

Sue's voice was distorted but still recognizable.

"Oh my god.."

Andromeda heard the disgust and turned a corner.

"It's just your period."

This time Chris was audible and there was a metal clang.

Andromeda slowed down hearing the girl chatter and started to think she had just imagined it all.

"Just plug it up."

"Help me.."

Carrie's half pleaded and half shrieked made Andromeda keep going.

"Oh god.."

The girls laughter seemed so out of place with the cries and pleas that Andromeda was didn't know what was going on.

"Ewww.."

Something was being thrown and then metal creaked in protest.

"Plug it up!"

It started with Chris but spread through the girls like dominoes falling one after the other.

"PLUG IT UP!"

"PLUG IT UP!"

"PLUG IT UP!"

"PLUG IT UP!"

"PLUG IT UP!"

The chants surrounded the whole locker room in various tones but every voice was passionate with a cause she didn't know.

Andromeda finally came to the showers and froze at what she saw.

"PLUG IT UP!"

Tampons were thrown everyone and in the center of it all was something lying in the shower area.

"PLUG IT UP!"

Water still fell onto the tile sounding much like rain but something was still so wrong.

_Why's the water red?_

"PLUG IT UP!"

The girl on the floor looked up and gave a painful sounding sob that hurt Andromeda's throat with just the sound.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Her scream was only half heard and so animalistic the girls who head were silenced in shock.

"PLUG IT UP!"

"PLUG IT UP!"

Andromeda pushed the half dressed girls out of her way and stormed past them.

"No!"

Carrie cried even harder her face reddening like the blood she so feared leaving her.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?" Andromeda screeched with her backs towards them and rushed to cover Carrie with her overshirt.

She ignored the uncomfortable feeling of wet denim and let Carrie grab onto the thin white material staining it.

Carrie's breath was fast and hitched repeatedly as she tried to crawl into Andromeda making the taller girl slip onto the wet tile.

The girls laughed at the spectacle as Ant tried to right herself but Carrie crawled further on top of her.

Finally, she wrapped her arms around the traumatized girl and ignored the taunts and jeers of their peers.

Carrie held a death grip on the now sheer material as she almost forced a bear hug on Andromeda.

All Andromeda could do was over as much of Carrie as possible and comfort her.

"I'm dying," she kept crying into Andromeda's shoulders.

Andromeda just held onto her shushing quietly muttering "You're okay" whenever Carrie stopped to take breath.

That was the scene Ms. Dejardin walked in on.

"What's going on?"

Her voice rang with authority and Carrie clutched so much tighter to Andromeda she feared she'd cut skin.

Without care, Ms. Desjardin pushed the half naked girls out of the way.

Two teenage girls sat on the tile floor of the showers with a reddish blonde sprawled on the brunette's lap.

Tampons covered the floor of the shower like haphazard decorations.

The girls looked away from the showers when asked again.

"What happened?"

Sue stepped from behind the other girls and answered with a peculiar red stain on her white blouse.

"I think this is the first time Carrie's gotten a period," her voice was quiet as she answered. "I don't think she knows what a period is."

Ms. Desjardin stepped closer and saw the darkened jeans shuttering when she wondered if it was blood or water.

"Carrie?"

She approached Carrie almost timidly and put a hand on a pale shoulder.

Carrie shuddered and buried deeper in Andromeda becoming louder.

"I'm dying. It hurts...It hurts…"

Like a song on repeat, Carrie kept speaking into Andromeda's shoulder.

"Ant? Are you okay?"

looked at the sodden teen and her eyebrows furrowed at the pathetic sight of both girls.

"Get to class," she ordered without turning back and heard the girls disperse.

"Carrie?"

"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It-"

"Carrie?"

"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It-"

Ms. Desjardin lifted a hand and aimed high before Andromeda started violently shaking her head.

Her stare screamed _I dare you._

When the palm was lowered, Andromeda raised her own to Carrie's face to lift it from her shoulder.

"Carrie?"

Her voice was as soft as clouds.

"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts."

"Carrie. It's Andromeda."

Tenderly, she pressed a small kiss on Carrie's forehead and soothingly kept light movements on her cheeks.

"I need you to be a Perseus, okay?"

Wide bloodshot green eyes looked back at her looking larger than ever filled with tears.

"I know it hurts but you need to get up for me to help you."

Carrie blinked and her voice was hoarse when she replied.

"You need me."

Andromeda couldn't bring herself to smile but tried for Carrie's sake.

"Yeah, I need you."

Her grip loosened but didn't let go fully as Carrie tried to stand one hand clutching her stomach and the other Andromeda.

"It hurts."

Andromeda stood up with her and slowly pushed Carrie's hair behind her ears.

"I know. We can make it better."

"Cause you need me?"

"Yeah. Cause I need you."


	6. Please Forgive Me

Carrie and Andromeda waited outside the principal's office on the wooden bench.

They were quiet with one stiff in fear and the other in anger.

Andromeda stared straight ahead foot tapping against the ground with every breath.

Carrie's eyes traveled through the hallway unable to focus on anything but the soft skin in her grasp.

Carrie's hand held Andromeda's in a death grip entwined so close it was hard to separate pale and olive skin.

Pale blue eyes focused on the hands enfolded in one another.

Unbiddenly, Andromeda's thumb stroked the space between Carrie's own thumb and pointer finger.

Without thought Carrie's shoulders dropped and she sighed releasing almost all of her tension in that one breath.

"Carrie," Andromeda said her name quietly in that same breathless tone she'd used since they'd met.

For all the noise in the hallway, Carrie's ears were keen to her voice.

She moved her head training her eyes on Andromeda's face in response.

"Do you know what happened in the locker room?"

It as barely audible but Carrie still heard.

"They laughed," it was almost a whisper. "I thought I was dying."

Glassy green eyes looked at Andromeda as if she held all the answers.

"It's called a period," Andromeda stayed quiet to not draw more attention to their discussion. "When females can have children, they bleed sometimes every month. That blood is what would've fed the baby when it was there. Since there's no baby, you bled."

She stared right into those watery eyes keeping it as simple as possible.

"I'm sorry I let this happen," she squeezed Carrie's hand bit her bottom lip.

Her own eyes started to sting from incoming tears.

"I didn't know they'd do this but I should've known," Andromeda's throat started to tighten.

She took a breath but continued.

"Not everyone is a good person but I thought they were better," Andromeda turned her gaze to the ground. "I expected better."

She didn't see Carrie's growing concern, couldn't feel the tightening grip.

"I broke my promise."

She blinked hard to stop from crying but failed.

A small crystalline tear escaped sliding down her face.

"Please forgive me."

A small hand slowly reached Andromeda's cheek catching the tear and gently guiding it back into Carrie's line of sight..

"There's nothing to forgive," Carrie said earnestly.

Throughout the conversation, the two had grown closer through they had never been far.

The teenage girls faces were barely a foot apart and they swallowed at the proximity.

Two boys sat on that same bench eyes watching the spectacle like it was their personal entertainment.

The boy closest to the girl clicks his tongue at them sticking out his chin with each sound.

Both girls turned: one insulted and the other curious.

He wiggles his bushy eyebrows forming a hand into a fist.

He pushed his tongue to his cheek repeatedly staring at them the entire time.

Andromeda wrinkled her nose in disgust at the display while Carrie looked away.

"You, me, janitor's closet."

It wasn't a suggestion, not a choice but an order that didn't sit too well with the bronzed teenager.

Andromeda ignored him moving back into Carrie's direction.

The teenage boy would've been fine if he hadn't gone so far.

He slowly reached out his hand placing it onto her exposed thigh.

Andromeda eyed the hand touching her exposed skin from the borrowed dress and that's when she reacted.

In the blink of an eye, the brown-haired teen clutched his shin groaning in pain.

She glared at the other boy daring him to try the same move.

The other boy raised both his hands in surrender eyes wide in fear and shock.

"I'm good," he stuttered.

"Carrie White," called Ms. Desjardin interrupting the scene missing the small violence that had occurred.

Reluctantly, she released Andromeda's hand and looked up at her pleading for something she couldn't name.

"It'll be fine," Andromeda tried to reassure her but Carrie's still panicked eyes held hers until the door shut.

She sighed closing her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind the bench.

It was quiet for a couple minutes before Andromeda heard her name.

"I have a witness. Andromeda Shield was there with Carrie."

Ms. Desjardin's voice was louder in indignation easily being overheard through the door.

The principal opened the door still speaking to Ms. Desjardin.

"I'll let Marie know Andromeda is going home early."

The portly man stopped to take a breath before calling her name.

She stood up in response and walked into the small office.

Fifteen minutes later, Carrie walked out the high school with her mother.

held Carrie tight to her body almost suffocating her into spindly side.

Their wild frizzy hair blew in the breeze as they hurried to the car.

Andromeda left the school alone stalking to her own small car.

Her dark brown hair fluttered in the breeze and exasperated Andromeda pushed her hair back using her right hand.

At the front of the school, the popular seniors stood in front of their cars giggling and carefree.

Sue broke away from Tommy smiling and laughing with her golden hair flowing in the breeze.

"Ant!"

Andromeda looked from the floor and stared at Sue.

It was a look Sue had never thought would be aimed at her.

Andromeda glared at Sue with a look so dark it was almost unrecognizable as she slid into her car.

Sue's smile slipped off her face.

* * *

The blonde teenager shut the car door hair flying at the movement as she still leaned in the passenger's side.

"Thanks for the ride," Sue grinned at Tommy and kissed him eagerly.

It was dark then with the stars sparkling in the exposed sky: a time when it seemed anything was possible...even forgiveness.

He kissed back just as messily, just as enthused.

"Need a ride home?"

Tommy asked as he withdrew looking straight into Sue's eyes.

Sue thought it over for a minute biting her cheek before shaking her head.

I don't want anyone to see this.

"It's fine. I'll walk. See you at seven?"

Tommy smiled as he answered.

"Count on it."

They kissed one last time eyes closed and hearts racing.

With a wave, Tommy drove off heading home and Sue stayed there to watch him leave.

When he was gone, she turned seeing the Shield home.

Andromeda's face came back to her mind: glaring with a look so dark it gave Sue chills down her spine.

The smile slipped off her face.

The pretty tall blonde walked to the porch with the enthusiasm of a man going to the electric chair dragging her feet with every step.

Anxious, she rocked on her heels on the porch.

Sue was hesitant to knock on the door eying it in growing fear.

She bit her lip as she tried to gather what little courage she had.

What do I say? What do I do?

Ant'll forgive me. I mean she can't be that mad, right?

Sue tried to calm her racing thoughts and quickly knocked on the imposing wood.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

They seemed groundbreaking for the nervous teen, almost obnoxiously loud.

She almost jumped when it actually opened.

Mrs. Marie Shield answered the door opening it halfway.

She was still beautiful aging gracefully like fine wine. A few silver strands stained her dark brown hair. Her own brown eyes were darkened from sleepless nights yet still they tightened at the sight of the blonde teenager.

"Sue Snell," Mrs. Shield's lips pursed at the end of the name.

Sue rubbed her lips raw searching for what to say.

Finally, she spoke her voice quiet.

"Mrs, Shield," Sue rubbed her lips once more. "I-I'm here for Andromeda."

"Did you run out of pads?" Andromeda's mother asked.

Sue bit her lip hard and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"I don't-"

"Were the tampons too light at the school? I heard the heavy duty can really pack a punch," She sneered.

Sue looked like she had just been slapped.

"How did that feel? To think you did worse to my daughter and one of her friends. I expected better of you Susan D. Snell."

Mrs. Shield's disappointed expression was too similar to Andromeda's.

Sue looked to the ground.

"I'm here to make things right," her voice was feeble as she replied.

Mrs. Shield's face relaxed cooling into an intrigued expression.

"How so?"

Sue looked up with her head a little higher but just barely reaching 's eyes.

"I'm going to apologize first. Then I'll do whatever it takes so we stay friends," Sue said sincerely and gave an abysmal small. "She's the best friend I've ever had."

Mrs. Shield looked torn for a moment before shouting into the house.

"Andromeda! Sue's here for you!"

Sue smiled wider relieved at the concession.

"Tell her I'm not home!"

Sue's smile faded hurting a little but not expecting any less.

"She knows you're here!"

Andromeda ignored the propriety instilled in her since toddlerhood.

"Tell her I'm sick."

Mrs. Shield grew agitated at Andromeda's excuses.

"Andromeda! We don't lie in this house!"

"I am sick!" Sue heard Andromeda yell from upstairs. "Sick of people like her!"

Her voice was incensed as she shouted loud and hard from her safe haven.

"Andromeda, I taught you better than this."

That disappointed tone that had cut Sue made Andromeda stomp down the staircase.

She stormed to the door all but ignoring her mother who quietly departed.

"Why are you here?"

Andromeda wasted no time nor effort broadcasting her rage.

"I-I-" Sue took a deep breath. "I'm here to say sorry."

Sue excluded vulnerability but for once Andromeda wanted to attack, to be strong.

"No, you didn't. I don't think you're sorry at all."

Andromeda's blue eyes were ice as she spat her views.

Sue looked wounded.

"Of course I'm sorry," her face contorted under the attack unused to such treatment.

"No, you're not," Andromeda stomped closer until they were toe to toe. "Because you didn't try to help us."

Sue had to look up to meet Andromeda's eyes and flinched at the contempt inside them.

"You helped her," She seethed through clenched teeth. "You're pathetic!"

Watery eyes were filled with hurt but unable to move away at the verbal assault.

"How awful are you that you have to bully Carrie?"

"I-I don't-I'm not-"

Sue stammered trying to defend herself.

"Yes, you do. You don't stop it, you don't help. You're worse than Chris!" Andromeda accused filled with righteous fury.

"I can't believe you! Chris but you?!"

Sue could no longer look her in the face.

She stared at the ground feeling her eyes fill and her throat tighten.

"I know-"

Andromeda interrupted blind to Sue falling apart and uncaring even if she was.

"You don't know! You don't know anything! Carrie's my best friend! You're supposed to be my best friend! Someone I can count on! What the hell were you thinking?!"

Andromeda didn't notice she'd been shouting until she stopped to breathe near panting with the effort.

"Andromeda, I-"

Sue looked up from the ground broke.

Crystalline tears glistened on her cheeks as she sobbed.

"Please forgive me."

Andromeda was quiet watching the display still angered but calming.

She watched Sue cry passively knowing if she herself moved, Andromeda wouldn't be able to control herself in trying to comfort the bully in front of her.

"I'll forgive you when Carrie does. Maybe even yourself."

Andromeda's voice wasn't dead but as if she herself wasn't there: disconnected from it all.

She turned around and walked through the door shutting the wood silently.

Sue continued to sob on her porch hugging herself tight with golden strands falling in front of her face.

"Please...please...forgive me."


	7. She's Not Mine To Take

Carrie sat huddled in the corner of the closet.

The wood was uncomfortably cool in the dark space lit by only a few candles.

Her head was buried deep in her crossed arms as Carrie trembled in the small space.

Carrie's ears rang with her mother's worlds as she rocked herself back and forth.

_"You showered with those other girls. You had lust-filled thoughts."_

_Carrie half hid in her locker memorized by Andromeda as she left the showers._

_Her dark hair was still wet from the school showers clinging to her skin in a wet embrace. Soaked strands held close to one another creating an almost dreadlocked appearance. Droplets dripped from her hair to her sun kissed skin making it shine even in the fluorescent light. Some droplets trickled down a trail beneath the small towel and Carrie couldn't help noticing, couldn't help watching Andromeda come back from the shower._

_Carrie froze at being caught but then Andromeda gave her a toothy grin face lighting up at the sight of her that Carrie couldn't handle the butterflies swiftly hiding back into her locker._

_Carrie froze for a moment at the last word but shook her head in denial as if to shake that guilt away from herself._

The rocking motion soothed little as Carrie hugged herself tighter and tighter remembering Andromeda's embrace.

_Someone was talking._

_The voice was distorted but undoubtedly feminine and filled with care._

"_Carrie."_

_She couldn't even fathom doing anything right now. Her stomach ached pulsing and Carrie could think was that she was dying._

_I am dying. It hurts. _

_I am dying. It hurts._

_I am dying._

_It hurts….._

"_Carrie."_

"_Carrie." _

There was something about the way Andromeda said Carrie's name.

It could how her lips formed the name touching briefly with every syllable. It could be the look in Andromeda's eyes when she said "Carrie" as if Carrie was the most important person in the world. It could even be her voice soft and almost honeyed. Andromeda said

Maybe it was a combination of all three.

She was Carrie's only friend: the only one who cared and the only one she could trust.

Andromeda was almost always there.

'_Would I want to be here without her?' Carrie shook her head manically as if the physical action could shake that thought away._

_I don't want to be alone._

Could it really be a sin to want someone to love her?

Was it really awful of her to want someone to need her?"

Andromeda's voice echoed inside her head making Carrie's heart race all over.

"_I need you."_

Could it really be that awful to want someone to love her?

_Am I that bad of a person that no one could?_

Carrie shut her eyes tilting her head to a heaven she'd never seen but always read of.

She pressed her palms together

"O Heavenly Father, please forgive me," Carrie began her prayer voice overflowing with respect and fear. "I know when I've sinned but God how could this be a sin?" Her voice became desperate for answers.

Carrie stopped to take a shaky breath before continuing in a whisper.

"How could love be a sin?" Carrie said almost inaudible. "No one cares for me here except her and I can't let her go now. She's all I have."

Carrie stopped to breathe once more shoulders dropping as she felt the weight of her world.

"They've sinned, I know they have."

Carrie shrunk into herself as she beseeched God's wisdom.

_Please let me have one thing. Let me have Andromeda. I know I have no right to ask but please. Mama said we're born of sin, the first sin, there's no way I'd ever be clean. Please God please. Let me have Andromeda…._

_Please…._

Carrie leaned the wall and still praying when she fell asleep. The candles melted low but still she did not move. Pale eyelids tinted gold fluttered when the door opened and more light entered the small space.

"Have you prayed for forgiveness?"

Margaret White stood in the doorway her needlepoint still in hand. Frizzy auburn hair appeared like a lion's mane in the humid air. Worse were her eyes like deranged beacons they became black empty pools with no emotion to the girl in the corner.

Carrie looked up from where she had fallen asleep on the ground.

Carrie looked into her mother's eyes bleary-eyed still not recognising the madness in hiding.

"I did," Carrie said softly rubbing the corner of her eyes. "I think he's forgiven me too."

* * *

Sue sat on the bleachers waiting for lacrosse practice to end.

Her blonde hair fluttered in the breeze of near summer while Sue's eyes were glued on two.

Sue watched unsure to interrupt what she was seeing.

Tommy Ross and Andromeda Shield played on the spring green grass having the time of their lives. Andromeda sprinted in front of him smiling wide her lacrosse stick in hand as she tried to make it to the goal. They laughed carefree before he dropped his stick picking her up from behind.

Andromeda laughed eyes crinkling and teeth shining as she shrieked.

Tommy spun her around her hair twirling round and round as she laughed until the coach stepped in.

"ROSS RELEASE SHIELD!"

They both froze like frightened children before Tommy gently placed her back on the ground still wide-eyed.

"Tommy!"

Sue called for him already striding to the field blue eyes honed on the two teenagers.

Andromeda's smile disappeared quick as lightning at the sight of her. Her face hardened making Andromeda appear as if made of stone. She turned her back to the blonde and began striding to the girls locker rooms.

"SHIELD!"

Andromeda ignored her coach's call and continued to leave.

Sue's face dropped but quickly tightened in determination.

_I can fix this._

They meet and Sue greets him with a frenzied kiss.

She kissed Tommy too eager and too fast leaving Tommy dazed and confused.

He draws back first eyebrows furrowed.

"What's going on?"

His voice is deepened from the kiss but heightened in worry.

"I know how to fix this."

Sue ignores his confusion talking but not truly listening.

"I'm going to make it up to Carrie."

Tommy tries to piece his girlfriend's thoughts together so he can understand.

"Isn't Andromeda the one that's mad? Did you apologize to Carrie yet?"

She tilted her head and gave him a look wondered when he'd become so obtuse.

"She's having my prom."

Tommy bites his cheek before responding his voice soft in hesitance.

"Sue, I really don't think you should-"

Sue interrupts him in her zeal for forgiveness.

"Every girl deserves a prom: one night to be a princess. I've seen her looking at you. She couldn't say no."

He bit his cheek once more remembering the pool as Tommy tried to refute Sue without outing Andromeda.

"I think you've got it all wrong."

Sue stood up straighter looking him straight in the eyes.

"Famous sports players do it all the time. They take someone handicapped or disabled to prom. Sometimes, they even bring the quiet girl and give her the best night of her life. One night, Tommy, that's all," her eyes pleaded for this one thing.

Tommy didn't respond and Sue quickly withdrew him from more distant and tense.

"You're bringing her to prom and giving Carrie that one night."

Her tone left no room for denial.

"I want to go to prom with you."

Tommy pulled her close again holding onto her waist loosely.

She avoided his eyes looking into the distance.

"That's too bad 'cause I'm not going."

He tried to look into her eyes again but she turned her head.

"Sue-"

"I don't deserve to go after what I did," Sue finally looked back at Tommy and crossed her arms under your chest.

"Tommy,you're bringing Carrie. I don't want to go.."

He looked at her still pleading and rapidly she pulled his arms off of her.

"I won't say it again."

Her face hardened before Sue walked away.

"Sue."

She kept walking back to the school.

"Sue!"

"Sue!"

"Sue-"

"She's not mine to take!" He yelled desperately but quieted when he noticed the attention they were getting.

"She's not mine to take," Tommy said sighing and dropped his shoulders in defeat.


	8. Libraries and Bathrooms

Andromeda didn't know what she expected when she went to school.

She didn't expect apologies. She didn't expect silence. Andromeda thought maybe she'd need to yell or threaten to get through the day. However, Andromeda didn't expect the graffiti that welcomed Carrie White back to Ewen High.

"Carrie White eats shit" marred the main corridor in bright white spray paint. It spread across five lockers back to back an illuminating backdrop against the burgundy paint. No matter how hard the janitor scrubbed or how hard Andromeda helped, it wouldn't leave. If only Carrie's life were that simple that only a couple layers of paint could hide all hurtful experiences away.

Thankfully, she had Andromeda but even that couldn't be enough.

Carrie stood in the bathroom staring straight into the mirror. Her face crumbled seeing every difference screaming how Carrie felt she didn't belong. The other teenage girls hid their marks and imperfections. Carrie couldn't do the same. Carrie's lips both the upper and bottom lip quivered at seeing her own face.

Hurt, Carrie began to pull apart the braid her braid: a horrible reminder that she'd never be one one of them.

She stared harder into the mirror tearing herself further apart.

_Ugly._

_Pathetic._

_Disgusting._

_Freak._

Green eyes stared hard at the mirror face twisted in a pain she couldn't explain.

The glass fractured in agony slowly webbing in from the corner and cracking on a path no one knew.

The glass shrieked as it finally scattered into the sink below.

The glass slowly rose like puppets on a string hovering over the sink.

Fear and awe slowly overtook her self loathing. The glass stayed above the sink

Andromeda opened the bathroom door faltering when she heard no other sounds.

"Carrie?" Andromeda asked her voice raising in curiosity and concern.

"Carrie, you in here?" Andromeda asked in the same breath stepping further into the bathroom.

Carrie jumped at the interruption quickly turning to the door with her green eyes trained to the door.

The glass dropped into the sink shrieking on impact each shard almost dancing from the landing.

Andromeda ran further into the bathroom at the sound and stopped short at seeing Carrie.

_What if she saw?_

Carrie's eyes were wide seemingly taking the whole of her face. Carrie's mouth was parted slightly dropped in surprise and horror.

"Are you okay?"

_Did you try to-_

Andromeda bit her bottom lip hard preventing the question from escaping.

_I don't want to know. _

_She wouldn't. _

_Would she? _

Her eyes fluttered over Carrie searching for even the smallest drop of red.

Carrie watched Andromeda's reaction transfixed.

She found no purple or red on the pale skin exposed and relaxed.

_No, of course she wouldn't._

Andromeda didn't move for a moment just looking at Carrie before biting her bottom lip slightly.

She sighed before seeming to come to an decision.

Andromeda walked closer reaching out her hand steadily looking for any signs of discomfort.

"May I?" Her voice came out gentle and soothing making Carrie's tense form relax.

Andromeda softly finger combed Carrie's hair trying to tame the little fly aways that always escaped.

Carrie's eyes never moved from Andromeda's face.

"You look so pretty with your hair out," Andromeda said her voice filled with wonder.

_She thinks I'm pretty..._

It was quiet in the room with the only sounds being the their breathing and the almost silent noise of Carrie's hair being moved.

The moment was broken after what only seemed like seconds.

The door opened with a bang in the silence making both girls separate and bite the their lips at the loss.

The teenagers watched the other girl enter a stall before standing there awkwardly avoiding each other's eyes.

"We must really have a thing for bathrooms, huh?" Andromeda joked giving a half hearted grin.

Carrie stood still her only movement was the imperceptible nod towards Andromeda.

Her eyes remained completely honed on the floor.

Andromeda turned her head back to Carrie's direction and frowned.

A tanned hand slowly lifted Carrie's chin until they were eye to eye.

"Can I walk you to the library?"

Carrie studied Andromeda's eyes for a moment before gently tugging on the hand on her chin.

She maneuvered them still studying Andromeda's reaction before clutching her hand.

Their hands clasped together and the heavy feeling in Carrie's stomach seemed to dissapear.

"Yeah," Carrie's voice trembled in her throat before she cleared it softly. "Y-yeah. I'd like that."

The small hand in Andromeda's held tight as they began to walk.

* * *

_Click._

_Click._

_Click._

_Whisk._

_Whisk. _

_Whisk._

Typing and page turning echoed through the library walls. The mismatched carpenting muffled what few footsteps could be heard. Few students sat haphazardly focused entirely on their textbooks. Some walked between the bookcases easily hidden from sight. A student or two typed viciously working on late papers.

Carrie sat at a computer a stack of books at her side. Each book was thick with words like "Telekinesis" and "Psychic" written on their spines. At the moment, she was intent on the video in front of her. A young hand hovered over an open book gesturing slightly to the left and a page of the book followed. Carrie slowly got closer and closer to the screen mesmerized.

Andromeda walked closer to the familiar sight of wavy red-blonde hair until she was right beside Carrie.

"Hey," Andromeda said sitting down in the chair beside Carrie's ignoring the computer for Carrie's face. "What are you doing?"

Carrie jumped automatically pausing the video on the computer screen.

"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" Andromeda asked breathless.

Her hair dripped slightly onto her tank top and Carrie's eyes followed the trail of a drop until it disappeared into Andromeda's shirt.

Green eyes slowly went back up to Andromeda's face before lowering at the amusement she found in blue.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it," Andromeda said ignoring what she'd caught except for the small grin on her face.

"I just want to help."

Carrie looked conflicted for a moment seeing the honesty before looking back at Andromeda.

"Can I?"

Carrie moved her head slightly in acquiescence which was enough for the taller girl.

Andromeda leaned over Carrie's chair reaching for the mouse.

"Let me help you." Andromeda clicked on the square on the far right of the video. "This button makes it full screen."

_She's right there…_

As Andromeda withdrew, her chest brushed softly against Carrie's arm.

_So close…_

_Andromeda was just there…_

The unique smell of peppermint and nature wafted into Carrie's nose.

_She's still here._

Carrie glanced at Andromeda and blushed at what she found.

Andromeda was smiling her eyes twinkling with mischief.

_I caught you._

The pink in her pale cheeks slowly brought back the innocence of Andromeda's smile and her reverent stare was back once again.

Andromeda turned her seat until she was angled toward Carrie and got a little closer.

"I like that color,"Andromeda said and feeling a little bold, reached out her palm to touch Carrie's cheek. "When you blush. It looks like cherry blossoms."

Their faces were close eyes staring deep enough to see their souls.

Andromeda glanced at Carrie's lips, swallowed and slowly leaned in.

Carrie didn't move away or near but shut her eyes.

A book fell from the stack and they both practically flew apart from each other.

"I-I should go," Andromeda said rushing up and tightening her grip on her backpack. She stood above Carrie clearly struggling before quickly kissing Carrie's cheek and speed walking out the library.

Carrie watched her leave half relieved and half yearning ignoring the video playing by itself.


End file.
